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S&L #85 Autumn 2005

Ya know I’m a real piece of work. For as long as I can remember now I’ve been complaining, bitching and moaning about the heat. I got to my wits end over it. And it was so hot and so dry for so long, I was doing rain dances at I watched the parched earth get scorced and the garden shrivel up no matter how much I watered it. But then overnight that sweatshirt I was longingly starting at a few months back is on, and I’ve got a chill. The overcast day has a drizzle that has left everything feeling damp. I have a chi

I have been to New Orleans 3 times since the storm for a total of five days. We got in with some bogus company documents printed off the computer in a way that looked so janky I just can’t believe they worked, but they did and I got to survey the city a bit while it was still a ghost town occupied only by military, police, and the developers driving escorted around the city in search of property investments.

This is Shelley from New Orleans. I put have been putting together Chainbreaker Bicycle Zine from there for the last few years, and I wanted to write to ya’ll about this hurricane and about what is going on with my city. It is hard to know where to begin, so I guess I will begin with the beginning.

Hey y’all – I’m living on this farm in the Hudson Valley with a bunch of amazing kids but we have this outlandish amount of work to do to get ready for winter so I don’t really have any time to write a column but instead here’s a piece off the Icarus Project website which might be really helpful to you or someone you love. It was a whole crew of us that wrote it over the last year but most of the credit should go to Will Hall and Ashley Mcnamara.

Philly’s Pissed and Philly Stands Up Report Back for 2005 Pointless Fest

DOPEY IS A SHADY-ASS MOTHERFUCKER. Philly’s Pissed and Philly Stands Up provided support at this year’s Pointless Fest, a three-day concert held annually. We worked to make this event more of a safe space for all people, specifically by making ourselves available to folks who needed support around issues of assault or safety.

Cities are a long term sore spot in the analysis of most dirt worshipping tree huggers. On the one hand, we like to slander them with all varieties of nasty words, relying on colorful metaphors and hyperbole to further illustrate the depth of our resentment. We’ll say dumb shit like “industrial death trap,” “urbanified culture of lies” and that classic Old Testament hippie throwback, “Babylon.”

It is definitely one of the stranger things that I do. It is not an easy endeavor; actually it is kind of difficult. Memorizing a role, staying with it, acting out accordingly - it can even be a bit stressful. If it wasn’t for the fact that it pays so damn well and I get to fuck with the American advertising industry from the inside, I probably wouldn’t do it…but I do, and it really is interesting.

A city which normally at this time of year reeks of decaying animals, now fills with water, oil, gasoline, and raw sewage. Dogs and cats seek refuge on roofs as humans ride boats down former streets, searching for friends and family. The stadium normally reserved for jocks and fans is taken over by men with rifles corralling people into order who have lost their entire material lives. Seniors lacking the proper medical care they need pass away, as minor injuries on young folks fester in the fetid water to the point of needing amputation. Desperate folks without trans

Memorabilia...It's hard to believe that summer is already over. I swear that I must have missed it this year. I suppose that I'll be saying that every season from now on ñ the years just zoom by after you hit that 30 year old bench mark (and I hit that a few years back). I remember when my mom turned 50, she remarked 'well, that went fast!' and I can still recall that intense feeling of dread I experienced at that moment. I hate how everything just seems to be over and done with in the blink of an eye. Luckily we've got out memories to s